Lamar boys cruise to win; Bellaire second

Mike Tenney

Published 10:00 am, Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Photo: Kevin B Long

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A Lamar swimmers seems to be hovering above the pool before he starts his competition Friday during the District 20-6A swimming and diving meet at the Lamar High School Natatorium. The Texan boys won the meet for their fifth consecutive district championship and will now send a number of swimmers to the Region V meet this Friday and Saturday in Sugarland. less

A Lamar swimmers seems to be hovering above the pool before he starts his competition Friday during the District 20-6A swimming and diving meet at the Lamar High School Natatorium. The Texan boys won the meet ... more

Photo: Kevin B Long

Lamar boys cruise to win; Bellaire second

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Winning 11 of the 12 events and getting more than one medal in quite a few of them, the Lamar boys swim team dominated the District 20-6A meet Friday afternoon at the Lamar High School Natatorium.

The Texans scored 240 points to more than double-up second place Bellaire, which had 113. Westside was third with 97 while Reagan was fourth with less than 30 points.

Senior Safa Anya, junior Ridge Livermore and junior Riley Carson each won two events for the Texans, who swept the three relays to rack up the points in that part of the competition. Those three swimmers accounted for over half of Lamar’s 11 wins and they also helped out on a couple of the team’s relays.

Anya, who was named the Male Swimmer of the Meet, won the 100-yard butterfly (58.61) and the 100 breaststroke (57.11) with a new district record time in an event in which the Texans were first, second and fourth overall.

After Anya, John Nielson was second (1:03.22) in the 100 breaststroke and freshman Henry Huelskamp was fourth (1:05.57).

He was also part of two relay teams that saw the Texans not only win their races, but set a new district record in doing so.

The Texans were first in the 400 free relay (3:15.48) to set a record time formerly held by Westside from 2012. Anya went first on that foursome with Nielsen, Livermore, and Nolan Hines on the anchor leg to finish off their new high-water mark.

And they won the 200 free relay (1:28.18) in record fashion with Anya, Nielson, Livermore and Hines again teaming up to get the gold medal.

The third Lamar relay race triumph came in the 200 medley to start the meet. The foursome of senior Daniel Santos, Huelskamp, sophomore Caleb Jolivette, and freshman Carlin McClarkin won (1:46.22) by a full second over runner-up Bellaire (1:47.33). Akesh Shukla, Pierre Frazier, Caleb Zuang, and Paul Lenz represented Bellaire for the silver medal.

Carson was first in the 200 free swim (1:48.93) and in the 500 free (4:47.38) in a pair of races that Lamar did very well in overall.

In the 200 free, Carson won with teammate Elie Abidjoud third (1:49.91) and Nielsen fourth (1:50.14) as the top four finishers were separated by like 1.4 seconds. Bellaire swimmers had the next three individual places.

Carson’s conquest in the 500 was by nearly 30 seconds over teammate Noah Switek, who was second (5:16.99) in the meet’s longest race. Bellaire’s Carter Marcum just missed getting on the medal stand by placing fourth (5:20.07) in the event.

Livermore won the 200 individual medley and led a Lamar run that saw the Texans go 1-2-3 in that event. He also took first place in the 100 backstroke and the Texans were first, second and fourth in that race.

In the IM, Livermore won with a 2:05 flat time while Santos was second (2:06.68) and Switek came in third (2:09.69) with the final time under two minutes and 12 seconds.

In the 100 back, Livermore was first (57.11) and Bellaire junior Carlos McClarkin (58.10) was second. Lamar’s Wesley Porter was third at a minute flat and Santos took fourth (1:04.50) to round out another solid showing by head coach S.R. ‘Mac’ McDonald’s boys.

The Texans also had a field day in the 1-meter diving competition, taking the top three spots led by senior Ben Lux.

Lux won his third consecutive district championship with a solid 354.80 score. Teammate George Lyons was second with 286.80 according to the judges and Matthew Romel was third for the bronze medal with a 207.95.

Nolan Hines had Lamar’s other win and it came in the 100 free (48.91) with teammate Elie Abidjoud coming in third (50.95) for another pair of Texan medals.

The only event Lamar didn’t win was the 50 freestyle, but Hines came in second in that race (22.58), just ahead of Bellaire swimmer Carlson McClarkin (22.97) who was third with the final time under 23 seconds.

Jolivette came in fourth for Lamar to punch his ticket to this Friday’s regional prelims.

Bellaire was second to Lamar in the 200 free relay (1:31.31) and third in the 400 free relay (3:23.11) to medal in both and also qualify for regionals.

Joshua Zhuang, Lenz, Frazier, and McClarkin made up the 200 free and Dennis Smirnov, Zhuang, Caleb Zhuang, and McClarkin again on the last leg composed the 400 free relay team.

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Smirnov was just shy of reaching the medal podium individually when he was fourth in the 100 free (51.06), but he will be at the regional meet in that sprint event.

The top 16 in each preliminary race will move on to the regional finals Saturday with the top eight going to the finals and the second group of eight going into the consolation bracket. The winners in each race will automatically qualify for the upcoming 6A state meet in Austin in just over two weeks.